Clear Light for World Mental Health Day. 

This year’s theme is to make mental health care and wellbeing a priority for all on a par with physical health; great disparities still exist.  

Most allotment holders say tending it makes them feel better. Some say the effect is immediate while others might have to dig hard to shift any black dog lurking around. 

What’s really helpful about working the earth is it can be quite meditative, concentrating on the task in hand to the exclusion of all else whether propagating new seedlings or the repetition of turning over our rich soil. 

The effort clears a mental space for us. 

As with meditation we start to turn our focus inwards and are alone with our thoughts.The fresh air and hard work can start to quieten and calm the mind. We might start an internal conversation perhaps about what our current job will lead to. 

One vital mental health benefit of the allotment is the automatic need to look ahead. We become conscious of how the seasons will inevitably change and how we must have an eye on our growing calendar to keep it on track. 

At the allotment there’s not much time for looking back and when the moment’s absorbed with digging our thoughts float ahead with what we are aiming to achieve in the next year. What wonders will florish? We stop dwelling on the problems from the past. 

It’s as if we check in with ourselves. We’re not engaging with others, their conversations and their demands on us. Social media is off and we shut out external noise of kids’ playing and car engines.  

We are at peace.